Once the pandemic is over, we’ll need a new social contract for Canada
TORONTO—Even before the pandemic hit, it was clear we needed a new social contract. While the pandemic brutally exposed the shortcomings of our society and just how vulnerable so many individuals and families really are, this didn’t start with the pandemic. Rather, the pandemic put the spotlight on the underlying fault lines that have been […]
The Hill Times is here to cover the biggest story in the world
These words have been overused, but these really are extraordinary times. The global COVID-19 pandemic crisis means people are dying, the economy is tanking, front-line health-care workers need urgent help, the federal government is spending billions of dollars in record speed and rewriting programs on the fly, and the future is uncertain. Strong political leadership […]
Some cabinet stars emerge in pandemic
CHELSEA, QUE.—It has been decades since the era of strong cabinet ministers—men (always men) with a profile as prominent as the prime minister’s and their own following within the party. In the modern era, the most memorable example is Paul Martin, Jean Chrétien’s finance minister, who, somewhat impatiently, built his own brand and his own […]
Beyond life and death issues presented by COVID-19, is there a social phenomenon brewing?
HALIFAX—Beyond the life and death issues presented by COVID-19, is there a social phenomenon brewing? We have had the Great Depression and the Great Recession. Are we entering the early days of the Great Reflection? Socrates observed that the unexamined life is not worth living. His point was that if all you ever did was […]
The month we learned that mental health is everybody’s responsibility
OTTAWA—In March of 2020, the world went into lockdown. We stopped going out to see friends, many stopped going to places of work and lost the hallway conversations with co-workers, and we started to look at neighbours with no small sense of fear. Anxiety started to grow. Some started to feel that “fight or flight” […]
Thankful for The Hill Times, says regular letter-writer
Re: “Editor’s note: how the coronavirus global pandemic will affect The Hill Times,” (March 30, 2020). One must admire your comprehensive sharing of how The Hill Times has so needed to adjust its operations to the coronavirus pandemic in order to maintain quality reporting. May I add how thankful I am, along with fellow writers […]
COVID-19 pandemic: models, predictions, and aviation
Times have changed. The number of flights and the number of people travelling around the world has significantly reduced. Businesses, including airlines, are in complete shutdown, and many people are in quarantine at home after arriving back from spring break. Statistics for March 2020 are not available yet, but, according to Statistics Canada, the total […]
How to maximize Canada’s COVID-19 economic recovery
It is often said that history repeats itself. It is how we respond to history that makes a difference. If the 2008 recession spearheaded by the collapse of Lehman Brothers was the “great recession,” then the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic is pushing us to the brink of an even economic disaster. For Canada to recover as […]
It’s time to talk about a COVID-19 exit strategy
So we’ve declared war on COVID-19. The calculus for victory is straightforward. Without a vaccine or a broadly acquired immunity, the virus can be fatal. Our defensive tactic is social distancing by isolating ourselves in our homes both to protect ourselves and to keep possible symptom-free COVID-19 carriers from infecting others. For now, we’re quite […]
UN 911 first-responder system is overdue
If it feels like someone hit the pause button on normalcy worldwide, you’re not alone. As with many of the world’s big challenges, we’re all in this together, mutually vulnerable, and interdependent on interconnected global systems. Perhaps this collective pause from the daily race will allow time for reflection about other threats we face. Climate […]
